Collusion

Chapter 5: Hey, Girlie

SUMMARY

“He’s not stupid. He’s a trained assassin,” Lumine explains. “But he’s becoming arrogant. A show-off. Like a serial killer who wants to be found. He wants someone to know it was him.”

Kaeya shrugs. “It’s either he’s arrogant, or he has protection.”

“Or both,” they say in unison.

“Both is worse,” Kaeya says.

Any sane person would not willingly stay in their apartment if they were the last living witness in a very recent assassination.

Lumine has left sanity a week ago.

She only had a whit of rational thought left when she ran towards danger and found death instead. Then, she truly lost it—all of it—when she decided not to include the assassin’s description in her statement to the police. It seemed insane then, but it proved to be the right decision when Lumine promptly loses her job after. She no longer has access to confidential information and databases, save for Albedo and his research, which Lumine had asked him to do. With her limited resources, Lumine has him—Tartaglia, an assassin, for crying out loud—as her only hope of finding Aether.

Yep, Lumine has definitely lost it.

In fact, Lumine wants Tartaglia to come and find her. Although, if he did come, he would probably kill her, no questions asked, what with being a witness and all. It doesn’t help that she lacks any modicum of survival skills, if she’s being honest.

Unlucky (or lucky?) for her, Tartaglia did not come. It has been a week since that messy assassination and Lumine has not heard a single peep from him. She has not left her apartment at all, living off of deliveries of food and groceries. Lumine made herself a very easy, juicy bait for Tartaglia, and yet, nothing. Not even one creepy phone call of loud, heavy breathing like Lumine saw in horror movies. She does not know whether to be relieved or disappointed by his absence.

The only visitors Lumine had were Kaeya and Albedo, bringing her food and company. Tonight, they’re bringing pizza. Lumine prepares beer for herself, and wine for Kaeya and Albedo. When they arrive, Lumine doesn’t miss the way Kaeya’s hand rests on the small of Albedo’s back. She will have to ask for details later on that one.

Kaeya sets two pizza boxes on the table while Albedo sits down and brings out his laptop. Lumine brings out the plates and lays them on the table. They have been coming over every night for a week and Lumine has come to enjoy it. She loved the solitude, but with friends, she feels safe. She feels truly at home. A stray thought passes, reconsidering if she should have invited them here when an assassin could be hot on her tail. But it is their choice to come, too. They know what happened, and what could follow. Lumine catches herself smiling. There’s that warm feeling in her chest again. She looks at them, making themselves at home, and Lumine thinks: she could not ask for better friends than them.

Lumine sits down. Kaeya’s already eating and drinking. She takes a bite of the pizza. It’s still warm.

“So, what have you got on Yelan?” Lumine asks.

Albedo reads something from his laptop. “Well, she is born and raised in Liyue. 33 years old. Head of the intelligence office in Liyue. No living family, or at least, not on any public government records. No known relationships. No criminal records, either.”

“That seems a little too clean,” Kaeya says. “There must be something on her. No scandals? What do the people of Liyue think of her?”

Albedo shakes his head. “There is nothing of the sort. And I do not think the common Liyuen citizen cares about secret agents. I doubt they even know of what we do. Which is a desirable outcome, what with our job being a 'secret’ and all.” He takes a bite of the pizza, and continues, “I did a similar background check on Eula back when she hired me and I found nothing. If you were the head of an intelligence office, wouldn’t you have your unsavory stuff scrubbed off the Internet, too?”

“That is fair. I know I would. But I still think it’s awfully convenient,” Kaeya turns to Lumine. “What do you think?”

“I don’t know,” Lumine answers. “She says she has something I want and I have something they want. If she knows anything about Aether...” She sighs. Lumine wants to trust Yelan, truly. But Kaeya is right. It is a little too clean, even for Lumine’s standards. “Thanks, Albedo. Can you also dig into Zhongli? Some things are not quite adding up in that case. Maybe we’ll find something.”

Albedo nods. “What, specifically, about Zhongli do you want to find?”

“Yelan said he was a newly hired groundskeeper for Rex Lapis. Let’s look into what he was doing before that,” Lumine answers, and Albedo types away on his laptop. She continues, “What about the other thing I asked?”

Albedo shrugs. “None came up for your query of ‘young redheaded male assassins’. Not even dead ones.”

Lumine expected this. She leans forward on the table. “What about men, around 20 to 30 years old, with a history of delinquency or displaying violent or psychopathic tendencies?”

“Where?”

“Anywhere in the world?” Lumine says, tentative.

Albedo frowns. “That will take months.”

“Okay, maybe narrow it down to men not born in Liyue?”

“Why not Liyue?” Kaeya asks.

“Well, I think we can safely assume that, considering the obvious physical differences,” Lumine answers, “We can also remove Inazuma from that equation.”

“You got that good of a look from him?” Kaeya says.

Lumine shrugs. “Yeah, we talked, remember?”

Kaeya continues to prod. “You sure he’s not wearing a disguise or anything?”

Lumine shakes her head. “I don’t…” She closes her eyes, reminiscing that moment. She pictures his face, his smug grin, freckles peppering his cheeks. “I don’t think so.”

“I highly doubt he wasn’t wearing a disguise,” Kaeya says.

“I agree,” Albedo says. “We will need more information, else we could end up wasting a lot of time and resources for nothing.”

Lumine takes a swig of beer. It’s cold and bitter and bubbly and it glides smoothly down her throat, straight to her stomach. The past week has gone by in a blur, and what with Lumine desperately trying to forget that bloody scene, the details have started to become hazy. But she forces herself to focus and remember.

“I think that was really what he looks like,” Lumine starts, “Maybe he was wearing a basic disguise, but nothing too complicated. I know what a face full of makeup looks like. He looked like he had a bare face on.”

“If disguise was only obviously caked makeup, then that is not a very good disguise,” Kaeya responds.

“What do you know?” Lumine bites back, a bitter tone in her voice. “This is not like the movies where spies 3D print an entire face and then put it on as a disguise.”

Kaeya looks like he wants to say something, but thinks better of it. Lumine has half a mind to taunt it out of him, but she has other thoughts. It keeps coming back to that moment, their conversation, and what the assassin looked like. What kind of a killer would show his bare face to someone, a potential witness, and then let her live?

Lumine sucks in a breath.

“What is it, Lu?”

“I think he did it on purpose. The no disguise thing,” Lumine says. “I mean, he’s not stupid. He’s a trained assassin. But he’s becoming arrogant. A show-off. Like a serial killer who wants to be found. He wants someone to know it was him.”

Kaeya shrugs. “It’s either he’s arrogant, or he has protection.”

“Or both,” they say in unison.

“Both is worse,” Kaeya says.

“Yes, but,” Lumine interjects. “If he’s egotistic enough to do that, it means he’s bound to slip up and make a mistake. Eventually.”

Kaeya’s face is disbelieving. Lumine doesn’t blame him, of course. He’s all about cold, hard facts. But it doesn’t matter what he thinks. It doesn’t change the fact that she saw him, that she’s still alive, and that he might just have all the answers she has been looking for.

“Maybe, but... don’t you think it’s too early to make assumptions?” Kaeya crosses his arms. “You’ve interacted with him for, what, five minutes? I don’t think that’s enough to paint an accurate picture of him. And Lu, in case you forgot, he pretended to be a translator, literally fooled you, and then killed four people. If anything, he’s a really good liar.”

“Well, explain why I’m not dead yet. It’s been a week, and I haven’t left the apartment and moved into a safe house, which any sane person would do if someone was trying to kill them. So why? Why am I not dead yet?”

“Do you want to be?” Kaeya asks, raising an eyebrow.

Lumine pouts. “No.”

“So maybe we shouldn’t be finding him. If you think he wants to be found, then maybe we shouldn’t be doing what he wants.”

Lumine sighs. “I haven’t been sure of anything for a long time, but I am a hundred percent certain he wants me alive. For what, I don’t know. But if he wanted to kill me, he would’ve already done it.”

“Lumine raises a good point,” Albedo says.

Kaeya shakes his head. “You’re playing with fire here, Lu.”

“I know. But Aether,” Lumine says.

Kaeya sighs. “I know.”

“If you could give me any other details that could narrow down this search, that would be great,” Albedo says.

“I’ll let you know if I remember anything else,” Lumine says. “Thank you, both of you.”

“You’re being an idiot. I hope you know that,” Kaeya says with a smile.

Lumine laughs. “And you’re an idiot for enabling me.”

They continue eating and drinking while watching a sitcom, just to lighten the mood. Kaeya seems happier lately, Lumine notices. It’s not that he wasn’t happy before, but ever since getting together with Albedo, Kaeya’s smile is a little brighter than usual. A tiny part of Lumine’s chest tightens with the way they look at each other. She never had time for romance. Maybe a few flings, here and there, but they never last. Lumine always takes the blame for it, tells them (and herself) that she’s just married to her work, and any time spent not finding Aether was wasted time. But she knows that’s not really the case. Lumine knows what it really is; she keeps it close to her chest and never lets herself forget it.

Watching Kaeya and Albedo, Lumine wonders if she will ever be like them. Happy and in love. Unafraid of losing each other. Vulnerable.

Ugh. The alcohol is making her uncharacteristically maudlin.

Lumine approaches Kaeya, who is washing the plates in the kitchen. She had insisted she do it, being the host and all, but there was no stopping Kaeya. Lumine isn’t one to complain. She taps him on the shoulder. “So… how’s Albedo?”

Kaeya’s face breaks into a giddy grin. “I’m not telling.”

“Come on, you never tell me anything about your boyfriends. You only tell me about them after the fact.”

Kaeya flicks soapy water in her direction. “That’s because they were all assholes.”

“So, you’re saying Albedo’s an asshole?”

“No,” Kaeya replies, “I just don’t want to jinx it this time.”

Lumine grins. “Kaeya... You’re in love, aren’t you? Have you told him yet?”

“You shut your mouth, Lu.”

Lumine holds up her hands in mock surrender. “Okay, sorry, jeez. You’re totally in love, though. Just tell him.”

“Fuck you,” Kaeya says, but he’s smiling. “See, this is why I never tell you anything.”

“You don’t have to, you know. You’ve both literally been eye-fucking all night.”

Kaeya raises an eyebrow. “You jealous?”

“Ew, no!” Lumine crosses her arms. “Don’t flatter yourself. You are so not my type.”

“No, you’re right. Your type is very obviously young male redheaded assassins, am I right?”

Heat rises to her cheeks. “Shut up, Kaeya.”

“Look, you’re blushing.”

“Honestly? It is kind of weird to find a guy hot, only to find out he’s actually a murderer.”

Kaeya nudges her on the shoulder. “So, you like him?”

“Fuck, no,” Lumine almost yells. “I lost my job because of him.”

“Actually, you lost your job because you were being nosy.”

Lumine rolls her eyes. “Whatever. Same thing.”

“If you say so, Lu.”

After a few more drinks and chats, Kaeya and Albedo finally leave. Lumine escorts them out of the building and to their Uber parked across the street. As Lumine watches the car drive away, she sees a hooded figure in the distance. His head turns to follow the car, and then he walks to his parked motorcycle.

It’s him. Lumine can’t tell exactly with the dark night and lack of streetlights, but she knows. She’s sure of it, like she’s sure if she runs to him now, he will not kill her. Most likely, he had been watching them all night. If he wanted to, he could’ve sniped off her head from the window already. But he didn’t.

Lumine takes a deep breath, and runs. Towards him. Towards danger, again. A recurring theme of her life as of late.

When Lumine gets close, Tartaglia grabs her and presses a switchblade against her stomach. She feels the sharp edge barely sinking in through her shirt, feels his arm on her back, hand at her waist, pulling her close. Lumine inhales sharply, not daring to exhale. Maybe she’s wrong. Maybe he will kill her, and Lumine just made a big mistake.

Bile threatens to claw its way up her throat. Did she really drink that much?

“Hey, girlie,” Tartaglia says coolly.

“It’s you,” Lumine says, not breaking eye contact. His thick-rimmed glasses are gone, but he looks the same as last time. Copper hair, blue eyes, faint freckles. She was right, after all.

Childe smiles, preening from Lumine recognizing him. How could she not remember? He is the reason Lumine lost her job. On the other side of that coin, he is also the reason she might find Aether. The thought of him, finally here, has her heart racing. Lumine has been waiting for him.

Their proximity has the alarms in her head ringing again. Her brain is urging her to move, do something, instead of staying still. But she stays rooted in place, frozen in fear, or something else. Lumine doesn’t know. Doesn’t want to know why she is staying and not running—or better, kicking him in the shins. She is not sober enough for that kind of introspection right now. Or drunk enough.

“Are you here to kill me?” Lumine rasps.

Tartaglia flips back his switchblade and pockets it. Lumine exhales in relief, and then he’s bringing a gloved hand to her neck, fingers wrapped around her throat. His thumb grazes her jugular.

“On the contrary. But you already know that, don’t you?”

His grip tightens around her neck. Not too firm but not too soft either, like he’s testing the flex of his fingers, measuring his hand span and the way her neck fits around him. Lumine feels the cold steel of the ring on his finger digging into her skin. The sensation shoots a jolt down her spine.

It’s hot. Too hot. The alcohol in her system is making her skin hot to the touch. Lumine suspects she looks flushed, not just her cheeks, but everywhere. Tartaglia would have to be blind to not know she is not sober at all.

Lumine swallows, and his breath catches at the sensation.

“Why are you here, then?” she dares to ask.

In her peripheral, Lumine spies a police officer in patrol walking in their direction. Tartaglia seems to notice him too, because he moves his hand from her neck to her cheek. Instead of letting her go, Tartaglia leans forward and closes the distance, letting his hood obscure their faces from the officer. Lumine understands what he's doing, and she follows along, standing on her toes to reach him, holding on to his denim jacket for purchase.

Up close, Lumine can see his eyes clearly, his pupils dilated. Tartaglia glances at her lips and parts his mouth, and for a second, Lumine thinks he’s going to kiss her. He leans forward, his nose a ghost of a touch on hers. Lumine closes her eyes and holds her breath.

“I’m here to kill your friend.”

Lumine’s eyes shoot open. She grips his jacket tighter, her head throbbing. “What?”

But she has no time to ask again, to clarify if she heard that right, because the officer had stopped behind Tartaglia.

“Is there a problem here?” the cop says.

Tartaglia lets her go and faces the officer. “No problem here, sir.”

The cop nods at Lumine. “I’m talking to her, not you.”

Lumine could do it. She could tell him this man was an assassin, had killed four people a week ago, and had told her just now that he’s going to kill her friend. But even she knows how ridiculous that sounded, and who knows what this madman beside her will do? Tartaglia could kill him, and then that’s another life on her hands.

No, she can’t.

“Everything is fine,” Lumine says, forcing a smile. A beat passes, and seeing the cop not quite believe them, she adds, “He’s my boyfriend.”

Her heart is pounding so loud. The alcohol is not helping. At all. Lumine expects Tartaglia’s news should have sobered her up already, but the beer is insistent on staying in her bloodstream. I’m going to vomit, she thinks, swallowing the lump in her throat. Not now.

Tartaglia laughs, but he follows along, his hand on her waist pulling her closer. “Told you.”

Lumine inhales sharply. It’s like the switchblade is still there, about to sink into her skin. Except instead of cold sharp steel, it’s his hand on her waist. Without thinking, Lumine places her other hand atop his on her waist. In response, Tartaglia threads their fingers together, her skin touching the leather of his glove.

Seemingly satisfied, the officer finally says, “Alright. Stay safe out there.”

“Don’t you worry, I’ll protect her. Good night, sir.”

They watch him walk away and as soon as he is out of sight, Lumine shoves Tartaglia away from her.

“Hey now, is that how you treat your boyfriend?”

“You’re an asshole,” Lumine says, crossing her arms.

Tartaglia shrugs, then puts on his helmet and makes his way to his bike. Lumine realizes what’s happening and grabs his arm. “Where do you think you’re going?”

He turns to her and slides the visor of his helmet up. He’s staring.

Is he trying to read my face? Lumine puts on a smile. The best she could offer, which might not be much, considering what he just told her. But it has to work. Lumine needs it to work. She can’t let Tartaglia go. She needs him to stay, because this is her chance, finally, to get some answers. Sober Lumine might argue this is the worst idea actually, but she is not here to stop the alcohol making her do crazy things. Besides, this is for Kaeya and Albedo’s safety. Of course. It’s not only because she’s drunk and she wants answers. Their safety comes first.

“Have dinner with me,” Lumine says. It’s not a question, but a demand.

Tartaglia’s face is absolutely bare and noncommittal, then it breaks into a wide, lopsided grin. “Sure thing, girlie.”

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